Final Farewell: the Culture of Death and the Afterlife

Red-figure Neck Amphora
with Women Visiting a Funerary Monument
by the Ganymede Painter
Italy, Apulia
Ca. 330–320 B.C.E.
Pottery
(96.1)
Gilbreath-McLorn Museum Fund and
Gift of Museum Associates (Members’ Choice)

The world’s many cultures have long created myriad traditions from ideas and attitudes about death. Moreover, their funerary rituals, preparations for the body, views toward cause of death, and notions of the afterlife have resulted in the creation of an extensive, artistic legacy. Final Farewell: the Culture of Death and the Afterlife examined these customs and ideas with art and artifacts representing the cultures of ancient Egypt, Greece, Etruria, Palestine, and the Roman empire; various civilizations of Asia, Africa, and the Americas; and the western European traditions of the medieval and later periods. The exhibit highlighted cross-cultural similarities and differences that allowed visitors to trace continuing themes and to understand their collective impact on the production of art associated with the universal culture of death.

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